Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Biography - IMDb Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle Biography Showing all 59 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (3) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (33) | Personal Quotes (12) | Salary (2) Overview (5) 5' 9" (1.75 m) Mini Bio (1) Roscoe Arbuckle, one of nine children, was the baby of the family who weighed a reported 16 pounds at birth. Born in Smith Center, Kansas, on March 24, 1887, his family moved to California when he was a year old. At age eight he appeared on the stage. His first part was with the Webster-Brown Stock Company. From then until 1913, Roscoe was on the stage, performing as an acrobat, clown and singer. His first real professional engagement was in 1904, singing illustrated songs for Sid Grauman at the Unique Theater in San Jose, CA, at $17.50 a week.

He later worked in the Morosco Burbank stock company and traveled through China and Japan with Ferris Hartman. His last appearance on the stage was with Hartman in Yokahama, Japan, in 1913, where he played the Mikado. Back in Hollywood, Arbuckle went to work at Mack Sennett 's Keystone film studio at $40 a week. For the next 3-1/2 years he never starred or even featured, but appeared in hundreds of one-reel comedies. He would play mostly policemen, usually with the Keystone Kops , but he also played different parts. He would work with Mabel Normand , Ford Sterling , Charles Chaplin , among others, and would learn about the process of making movies from Henry Lehrman , who directed all but two of his pictures. Roscoe was a gentle and genteel man off screen and always believed that Sennett never thought that he was funny. Roscoe never used his weight to get a laugh. He would never be found stuck in a chair or doorway. He was remarkably agile for his size and used that agility to find humor in situations. By 1914 he had begun directing some of his one-reels.

The next year he had moved up to two-reels, which meant that he would need to sustain the comedy to be successful--as it turned out, he was. Among his films were Fatty Again (1914), Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915), Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day (1915), Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco (1915), Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915), and many more. For "Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco", Keystone took the actors to the real World's Fair to use as background; the studio's cost was negligible, while the San Francisco backgrounds made the picture look expensive. By 1917 Roscoe formed a partnership with Joseph M. Schenck , a powerful producer who was also the husband of Norma Talmadge . The company they formed was called Comique and the films that Roscoe made were released through Famous Players on a percentage basis, and soon Arbuckle was making over $1,000 a week. With his own company Roscoe had complete creative control over his productions.

He also hired a young performer he met in New York by the name of Buster Keaton . Keaton's film career would start with Roscoe in The Butcher Boy (1917). Roscoe wrote his own stories first, tried them out and then devised funny twists to generate the laughs. His comedy star was second only to Charles Chaplin. With the success of Comique, Paramount asked Roscoe to move from two-reel shorts to full-length features in 1919. Roscoe's first feature was The Round-Up (1920) and it was successful. It was soon followed by other features, including Brewster's Millions (1921) and Gasoline Gus (1921). Ufortunately, tragedy struck on Labor Day on September 5, 1921 with the arrest and trial of Roscoe Arbuckle on manslaughter charges. Roscoe's roommate had thrown a party in their San Francisco hotel suite, which was crashed by a "starlet" named Virginia Rappe , who fell seriously ill and died three days later from a ruptured bladder. Rappe had accused Arbuckle of raping her prior to passing away, but Rappe had a history of accusing men of rape.

The newspapers, led by William Randolph Hearst , used this incident to generate Hollywood's first major scandal. Roscoe was tried not once but three times for the criminal charges; the trials began in November 1921 and lasted until April 1922; the first two ended with hung juries (the mistrial decision in the second trial was reached on February 3, 1922, the day after Arbuckle's friend and fellow Paramount director William Desmond Taylor was found murdered, and Arbuckle was visibly affected by the news). At his third and final trial in April of 1922, the jury not only returned a "not guilty" verdict but excoriated the prosecution for pursuing a flimsy case with no evidence of Arbuckle having committed any crime; it was at this final trial that the jury went further, writing a personal letter of sympathy and apology to Arbuckle for putting him through this ordeal. He kept it as a treasured memento for the rest of his life. However, Arbuckle's acquittal marked the end of his comedic acting career. Unable to return to the screen, he later found work as a comedy director for Al St.

John , Buster Keaton and others under the pseudonym "William Goodrich" (he was inspired to use this pseudonym by Keaton, who suggested Arbuckle use the name "Will B. Good"). In 1932 producer Samuel Sax signed Roscoe to appear in his very first sound comic short films for Warner Brothers, starting with Hey, Pop! (1932). He completed six shorts and showed the magic and youthful spirit that he had a decade before. With the success of the shorts, Warner Brothers signed Roscoe to a feature film contract, but he died in his sleep on June 29, 1933 , at age 46, the night after he signed the contract. ( 6 August 1908 - 27 January 1925) (divorced) Trade Mark (3) Apart from the fact that he was overweight and thus nicknamed "Fatty," he usually wore bowler-hat and pants whose legs were too short. Rolling perfect cigarettes with a couple quick motions of one hand Remarkable agility and dexterity, especially for a man of his girth Trivia (33) Obese comic actor whose career was ended by a scandal.

Directed under the name William Goodrich. He let it be known that his alternate pseudonym of Will B. Good was evidence of his pledge to walk the straight and narrow. After his career was ruined, Buster Keaton personally supported him as repayment for giving him his break into film. Weighed 300 pounds (ca. 135 kilograms) at the height of his career. Was tried three times for rape and manslaughter of Virginia Rappe . The first trial (November 14-December 4, 1921) ended with the jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal. The second trial (January 11-February 3, 1922) also ended in a hung jury; this time the majority had ruled against Roscoe - 10 to 2 for conviction. The third trial (March 13-April 12, 1922) finally ended with an acquittal after the jury deliberated for less than 5 minutes compared with 43 hours straight in the first trial and 44 hours in the second trial. Uncle of actor/comedian Al St. John .

It is often reported that Arbuckle's career as an actor ended with the rape trials and that he died forgotten. In fact, Arbuckle was in the midst of starring in a series of successful shorts and was on his way back up when he died. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith; pg. 21-22. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 An excellent breakdown of the rape/murder scandal is "Frame-Up!: the Untold Story of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle", by Andy Edmonds. He was the very first actor to be paid a million dollars a year. A screenplay about his life floated around Hollywood for years but never got sold. At one point, John Belushi was considered for the role, then John Candy , then Chris Farley . All three died suddenly and the script has been shelved indefinitely. The legend that his box office clout faltered after the scandal is not entirely true.

Actually his films were making just as much money as they had been before the scandal, the problem was that with all the scathing headlines about him, studios were reluctant about putting him under contract and so he had problems getting work. It was written in his contract that his weight remain above 250 pounds and that he would be given a healthy yearly bonus if he exceeded that by 50 to 100 pounds. He kept his weight well over 300 during his career. Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 11-13. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Some filmographies credit him as co-director of the film Sherlock Jr. (1924). The confusion comes from the fact that Buster Keaton did originally hope to have Arbuckle work as his co-director on the film, but ultimately Arbuckle was still too depressed over the scandal that had nearly ended his career three years earlier, and had become difficult to work with, so Keaton went ahead as the sole director of the film.

The claim that Arbuckle was a co-director on the film was substantiated by Minta Durfee ; however, her claims lose credibility when she also stated that Arbuckle was the sole screenwriter of the film. The script was definitely written by Joseph A. Mitchell , Jean C. Havez and Clyde Bruckman , Keaton's usual team of gag-men from this era. Historians agree there is no credibility to the claim that Arbuckle ever directed so much as a frame of the movie. Met Buster Keaton accidentally one day while strolling down Broadway in New York City with vaudeville veteran Lou Anger . Anger, who was an old stage acquaintance of Keaton's, introduced them. Arbuckle immediately invited Keaton to visit the Colony Studio where he was about start a series of two-reel comedies for Joseph M. Schenck . The famous duo was thusly formed. Had a "wonderful" singing voice and was extremely agile. Is the subject of the novel "I, Fatty" by Jerry Stahl . Started his movie career in 1909 with the Selig Polyscope Company. Joined Keystone Studios as a member of the Keystone Kops in 1913.

Is the only person to have the three top silent film comedians, Charles Chaplin , Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd appear in supporting roles in his films; Chaplin assists Arbuckle in The Knockout (1914); Lloyd is his co-star in Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers (1915); and Keaton supported him in at least 14 shorts. Although he divorced his first wife Minta Durfee in 1925, they did in fact separate as early as in 1917. Signed a contract for Paramount Pictures in 1920 for $1,000,000. Once owned a quarry in southern California. Two months after he sold the quarry, oil was discovered on the property. Began his career as an entertainer in vaudeville at age 12 in order to survive, after his mother died and his alcoholic father had abandoned him. In 1924, he hired Bob Hope as a "cheap act" for his traveling vaudeville show. After seeing Hope perform at the Bandbox Theater in Cleveland, Arbuckle sensed he would be a major star if he just had the right break.

He contacted some friends in Los Angeles and instructed Hope to do the same. Hope eventually followed his advice and headed west. Arbuckle hated the nickname "Fatty" and insisted that his friends and acquaintances always address him by his real first name, Roscoe. He was the first movie star in America to systematically direct his own films. He directed most of his output from 1914 and onwards. Profiled in "American Classic Screen Profiles" by John C. Tibbets and James M. Welch (2010). In 1927, he was engaged to direct and star a series of comedy shorts for producer Abe Carlos. The films were to be shot in Berlin and distributed internationally, and Arbuckle's then wife Doris Deane was to star with him. The films were never produced, and it's unknown if Arbuckle saw any financial gain from the deal. He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6701 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

A fictionalized version of the events that destroyed Arbuckle's career appears in James Ivory 's film The Wild Party (1975) starring James Coco as a silent film star based on the comedian. He was the recipient of the first custard pie to be thrown in a film -A Noise From the Deep (1913) It was thrown by Mabel Normand. Personal Quotes (12) [on his sex-and-murder scandal in 1921] I don't understand it. One minute I'm the guy everybody loves, the next I'm the guy everybody loves to hate. [when he was called "Fatty" off-screen, a nickname he hated] I got a name, you know. [on his first wedding anniversary, shortly before his death] This is the best day of my life. I shall produce nothing that will offend the proprieties whether applied to children or grown-ups. My pictures are turned out with clean hands and therefore with a clear conscience which, like virtue, is its own reward.

Nothing would grieve me more than to have mothers say, "Let's not go there [in cinema] today, Arbuckle is playing and he isn't fit for children to see." I want them to think always otherwise for me, for as long as I can please the kiddies, I don't care who entertains their elders. [on Charles Chaplin ] I have always regretted not having been his partner in a longer film than these one-reelers we made so rapidly. He is a complete comic genius, undoubtedly the only one of our time and he will be the only one who will be still talked about a century from now. I don't believe there is any finer mission on earth than just to make people laugh. My birth and a cyclone blew Smith Center [Kansas] off the map. You only star in movies from picture to picture. If two or three pictures are bad, you're not a star anymore. It's a constant worry. That's why movie people are temperamental. It's a terrible strain! I've never used my weight to get a laugh. That is, used my size as the subject for humor. You never saw me stuck in a doorway or stuck in a chair.

If you'll analyze my pictures you'll see that they're humorous in themselves, except, of course, that the audience remarks about the agility on account of the weight. Titles and trademarks don't count. They're no good unless the picture is funny. How did I become a star? I don't know how it happened. When I look at my old pictures, I can't tell how it happened! No price is too high to pay for a good laugh. A good laugh...is the most worthwhile thing in life. Salary (2) The Skinny on the Fatty Arbuckle Trial | History | Smithsonian Contact Privacy Policy Terms of Use The Skinny on the Fatty Arbuckle Trial When the million-dollar movie comedian faced a manslaughter charge, the jury was indeed scandalized—at how his reputation had been trashed November 8, 2011 Upon his arrest for murder, Roscoe Arbuckle was booked into custody and denied bail. In the summer of 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was on top of the world. Paramount Pictures had paid him an unprecedented $3 million over three years to star in 18 silent films, and he’d just signed another million-dollar contract with the studio.

The portly comedian’s latest film, Crazy to Marry, was playing in theaters across the country. So his friend Fred Fischbach planned a big party to celebrate, a three-day Labor Day bash at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. But by the end of the week, Fatty Arbuckle was sitting in Cell No. 12 on “felony row” at the San Francisco Hall of Justice, held without bail in the slaying of a 25-year-old actress named Virginia Rappe. Crazy to Marry was quickly pulled from theaters, and a nation was outraged to discover a sordid side to the off-screen lives of Hollywood stars. Behind Arbuckle’s troubles was a mysterious woman named Maude Delmont , a witness for the prosecution who would never be called to testify because police and prosecutors knew her story would not hold up on the stand. Yet what she had to say would be more than enough to ruin Arbuckle’s career. The days leading up to the party did not put Arbuckle in the best of moods. He was in Los Angeles having his Pierce-Arrow automobile serviced when he sat down on an acid-soaked rag at the garage.

The acid burned through his pants to his buttocks, causing second-degree burns. He was tempted to cancel the trip to San Francisco, but Fischbach would have none of it. He secured a rubber-padded ring for Arbuckle to sit on, and they made the drive up the coast to the St. Francis, where Fischbach had reserved adjoining rooms and a suite. According to Arbuckle, Fischbach arranged everything from the rooms to the guests to the liquor (despite Prohibition), and on Labor Day, September 5, 1921, Arbuckle awoke to find that he had many uninvited guests. He was still walking around in his pajamas, bathrobe and slippers when he saw Delmont and Rappe and expressed concern that their reputations might alert police to the “gin party.” In Los Angeles, Delmont was known as a madam and blackmailer; Rappe had made a something of a name for herself as a model, clothing designer, aspiring actress and party girl. But the food and booze were flowing by then, the music was playing, and Arbuckle was soon no longer focused on his exhausting work schedule, the burns on his backside or just who all those guests were.

What happened in the ensuing hours would play out on the front pages of William Randolph Hearst ’s national chain of newspapers, in lurid headlines, before Arbuckle had a chance to tell his side of the story. Virginia Rappe was 25 years old when she arrived at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco for a Labor Day Weekend party. Maude Delmont soon painted a sinister portrait of the happy-go-lucky portly prince of silent film. This is what she told the police: After Arbuckle and Rappe had had a few drinks together, he pulled her actress into an adjoining room, saying, “I’ve waited for you five years, and now I’ve got you.” After a half-hour or so, Delmont heard Rappe screaming, so she knocked on and then kicked at the locked door. After a delay, Arbuckle came to the door in his pajamas, wearing Rappe’s hat “cocked at an angle” and smiling his “foolish ‘screen smile.” Behind him, Rappe was sprawled on the bed, moaning. “Arbuckle did it,” the actress said, according to Delmont. Rappe was taken to another room.

A doctor was summoned, and he attended to her. She stayed at the hotel for a few days before she was taken to a hospital—where she died, on September 9, of a ruptured bladder. The Hearst papers had a field day with the story—the publisher would later say the Fatty Arbuckle scandal sold more papers than the sinking of the Lusitania. While sexually assaulting Virginia Rappe, the papers surmised, the 266-pound star had ruptured her bladder; the San Francisco Examiner ran an editorial cartoon titled “They Walked Into His Parlor,” featuring Arbuckle in the middle of a giant spider web with two liquor bottles at hand and seven women caught in the web. Rumors that he had committed sexual depravities began to swirl. Arbuckle turned himself in and was held for three weeks in jail. Police released a mug shot of the dejected actor, photographed in a suit and bow tie, his round face showing nothing of the joy everyone saw on celluloid. He remained silent as the innuendo swelled. Arbuckle’s lawyers insisted he was innocent and requested that the public make no judgment until all the facts were established.

But they quickly realized Arbuckle would have to make a statement, and the comedian told a very different story from Maude Delmont’s. After having a few drinks with Virginia Rappe, the actress became “hysterical,” Arbuckle said. She “complained she could not breathe and then started to tear off her clothes.” At no time, Arbuckle insisted, was he alone with her, and he said he had witnesses to corroborate the point. He found Rappe in his bathroom, vomiting, and he and several other guests tried to revive her from what they believed was intoxication. Eventually, they got her a room of her own where she could recover. Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter and scheduled for trial that November. San Francisco District Attorney Matthew Brady saw the case as the perfect opportunity to jump-start his career in politics, but he was beginning to have trouble with his star witness, Delmont. Sometimes she claimed to be a lifelong friend of Rappe’s; other times, she insisted they’d met just days before the party. She also had a criminal history of fraud and extortion, Brady discovered.

Also known as “Madame Black,” Delmont procured young women for parties where wealthy male guests soon found themselves accused of rape and blackmailed into paying Delmont. Then there was the matter of the telegrams that she sent to attorneys in both San Diego and Los Angeles: “WE HAVE ROSCOE ARBUCKLE IN A HOLE HERE CHANCE TO MAKE SOME MONEY OUT OF HIM.” Still, Brady proceeded to trial. The newspapers never questioned Delmont’s version of events, and they kept flogging Arbuckle. His reputation was in a shambles, even after his friends Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin vouched for his character. But Arbuckle’s lawyers introduced medical evidence showing that Rappe had had a chronic bladder condition, and her autopsy concluded that there “were no marks of violence on the body, no signs that the girl had been attacked in any way.” (The defense also had witnesses with damaging information about Rappe’s past, but Arbuckle wouldn’t let them testify, he said, out of respect for the dead.) The doctor who treated Rappe at the hotel testified that she had told him Arbuckle did not try to sexually assault her, but the prosecutor got the point dismissed as hearsay.

Fatty Arbuckle was making $1 million per year in 1921 with Paramount Pictures. Photo: Wikipedia Arbuckle took the stand in his own defense, and the jurors voted 10-2 for acquittal. When the prosecution tried him a second time, the jury deadlocked again. It wasn’t until the third trial, in March of 1922, that Arbuckle allowed his attorneys to call the witnesses who had known Rappe to the stand. He had little choice; his funds were depleted—he would spend more than $700,000 on his defense—and his career was presumed to be dead. They testified that Rappe had suffered previous abdominal attacks; drank heavily and often disrobed at parties after doing so; was promiscuous, and had an illegitimate daughter. One of them also attacked Maude Delmont as “the complaining witness that never witnessed.” On April 12, 1922, the jury acquitted Arbuckle of manslaughter after deliberating for just five minutes—four of which were used to prepare a statement: Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle.

We feel that a great injustice has been done to him … there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story which we all believe. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame. One week later, Will Hays , whom the motion picture industry hired as a censor to restore its image, banned Fatty Arbuckle from appearing on screen. Hays would change his mind eight months later, but the damage was done. Arbuckle changed his name to William B. Goodrich (Will B. Good) and worked behind the scenes, directing films for friends who remained loyal to him and barely earning a living in the only business he knew. A little more than ten years later, on June 29, 1933, he had a heart attack and died in his hotel room. He was 46. Sources Books: Robert Grant, Joseph Katz, The Great Trials of the Twenties: The Watershed decade in America’s Courtrooms, Sarpedon, 1998.

Scott Patrick Johnson, Trials of the Century: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and the Law, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2011. Charles F. Adams, Murder by the Bay: Historic Homicide In and About the City of San Francisco, Quill Driver Books, 2005. Stuart Oderman, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: A Biography of the Silent Film Comedian, 1887-1933, McFalrald, 1994. Articles: “Quiz Arbuckle Over Death of Film Actress” Chicago Daily Tribune, Sep. 11, 1921. “Arbuckle Held Without Bail As Murderer” Chicago Daily Tribune, Sep. 12, 1921. “Mrs. Delmont Tells of Arbucle Party” Boston Daily Globe, Sep. 13, 1921. “Many Theathers Ban Arbuckle Pictures” New York Times, Sep. 13, 1921. “Fatty Arbuckle and the Death of Virginia Rappe” by Denise Noe, TruTV Crime Library, . “The Case Against Arbuckle,” “Arbuckle Answers to Girl’s Murder Charge” .

Like this article? ï¿½ Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle - Silent Comedian - goldensilents.com Golden Silents / Silent Film Clips / Message Board Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (1887-1933) Silent film comedian Roscoe "Fatty Arbuckle" was born Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle in Galveston, Texas on March 24th, 1887 and educated in St. Louis, Missouri. At age eight Roscoe appeared on the stage for the first time. His first roles were with the Webster-Brown Stock Company. He was on the stage performing everything from acrobatic acts to clown acts to a singing act, performing illustrated songs for Sid Grauman at the Unique Theater, San Jose. He also worked for the Morosco Burbank stock company and traveled throughout China and Japan with the Ferris Hartman company. He even managed his own stock company for a time. Roscoe eventually went to work for Mack Sennett's studio Keystone circa 1909 starting at $40 a week. He appeared in hundreds of one-reel comedies. He played mostly policeman, usually with the Keystone Kops.

He learned about the process of making movies from talented director Henry Lehrman, who directed all but two of his films. Fatty, far right, in his days as a Keystone Kop Roscoe was a gentle and sensitive man off-screen and always believed that Sennett did not think he was funny. Roscoe never used his weight to gain a laugh. He was remarkably agile and athletic for his size and used those talents to find humor in situations. By 1914 Roscoe had also directed some of his own one-reelers. By 1915, he would move up to two-reelers. He appeared in many successful comedy films with screen comedienne Mabel Norman d as his sidekick, with titles such as "Mabel, Fatty and the Law" (1915), "Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day" (1915), "Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco" (1915), "Fatty's Reckless Fling" (1915), etc.

Roscoe was married three times, the first time to actress Minta Durfee from 1909-1925, who stood by him during his later legal troubles, and then to actress Doris Deane from 1925 to 1928, then to actress Addie McPhail from 1932 until his death in 1933. In 1917 Roscoe formed a partnership with producer Joseph M. Schenck, husband of Norma Talmadge . The company was named Comique and the films that Roscoe made were released through Famous Players-Lasky on a percentage basis. His salary during this time averaged an astounding $5,000 to $7,000 a week. At Comique Roscoe had complete creative control over his productions. He hired a young performer whom he had met in New York by the name of Buster Keaton . Buster Keaton's film career would start with Roscoe in "The Butcher Boy" (1917 - surviving), and Buster remained grateful to Roscoe his entire life. Roscoe wrote his own scenarios and then improvised to generate additional laughs.

With such great success it was just a matter of time before Roscoe was hired to do feature length films. It was Paramount who asked Roscoe to move from the two reel films to feature films. In 1920 Roscoe's first full length feature was the successful "The Roundup". It would soon be followed by other features such as "Brewster's Millions" (1920), "Gasoline Gus" (1921), and "Leap Year" (1921). His last silent film appearance was in Buster's "Go West" (1925) in an uncredited role. By that time Buster was the star and Roscoe had been destroyed. Tragedy would strike Roscoe on Labor Day, 1921 with his arrest and trial on murder charges. Roscoe had thrown a party which was crashed by a disreputable bit player named Virginia Rappe. The girl fell seriously ill during the festivities and died a few days later. The newspapers, led by the William Randolph Hearst group, would make this incident Hollywood's first truly major scandal.

Hearst later boasted to Buster Keaton that he had sold more papers about the Arbuckle-Rappe tragedy than he had at the sinking of the Lusitania. Although eventually acquitted after a third trial in 1923, Roscoe's career appeared finished, since the papers had printed unfounded story after story about his supposed guilt for months, which had fueled a public outcry of moral outrage across the nation. His films had been banned and withdrawn. Unable to return to the screen, Roscoe later found work as a comedy director for his nephew Al St. John, Buster Keaton and others, under the pseudonym William Goodrich. He also directed Eddie Cantor's first films. In 1932, Sam Sax signed Roscoe to appear in comic shorts for Warner Brothers starting with "Hey, Pop" (1932). Roscoe would complete six shorts and once again show the fine comedic timing and youthful spirit that he had a decade before.

With the success of the shorts, Warner Brothers signed Roscoe to a feature film contract, but sadly he died in his sleep of heart failure at age 46, the night after he signed the agreement, on June 29th, 1933 in New York City. ~ Copyright © 2004 goldensilents.com Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle's Silent Films Go West (1925) (uncredited) .... Woman in department store Sainted Devil, A (1924) Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - IMDb IMDb Actor | Director | Writer Roscoe Arbuckle, one of nine children, was the baby of the family who weighed a reported 16 pounds at birth. Born in Smith Center, Kansas, on March 24, 1887, his family moved to California when he was a year old. At age eight he appeared on the stage. His first part was with the Webster-Brown Stock Company. From then until 1913, Roscoe was on the ...

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(Short) (story) 1918 Moonshine (Short) (screenplay) / (story) 1931 Stars of Yesterday (Short documentary) Himself 1915 Fatty Arbuckle (Documentary short) Himself 2017 TIME Presents: Celebrities on Trial (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2011 Birth of Hollywood (TV Mini-Series documentary) Various Characters 2007 City Confidential (TV Series documentary) Various Characters 1995-1998 Biography (TV Series documentary) Himself 1982 Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter (TV Movie documentary) Actor - 'Fatty Joins the Force' (uncredited) 1980 Hollywood (TV Mini-Series documentary) Himself 1980 Charlie Chaplin: The Little Tramp (TV Movie documentary) Actor Mentioned in Several Films 1961 Hollywood: The Golden Years (TV Movie documentary) Himself (uncredited) 1934 Movie Memories (Documentary short) Himself 3 Biographical Movies | 7 Print Biographies | 4 Portrayals | 59 Articles | 1 Pictorial | See more » Official Sites: 'Fatty

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Personal Quote: You only star in movies from picture to picture. If two or three pictures are bad, you're not a star anymore. It's a constant worry. That's why movie people are temperamental. It's a terrible strain! See more » Trivia: The legend that his box office clout faltered after the scandal is not entirely true. Actually his films were making just as much money as they had been before the scandal, the problem was that with all the scathing headlines about him, studios were reluctant about putting him under contract and so he had problems getting work. See more » Trademark: Apart from the fact that he was overweight and thus nicknamed "Fatty," he usually wore bowler-hat and pants whose legs were too short. See more » Nickname: Fatty Arbuckle "Fatty Arbuckle" silent film actor Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born in Smith Center, Kansas, on March 24, 1887. One of nine children, he reportedly weighed 16 pounds at birth. His family moved to California when he was about one year old.

Arbuckle first appeared on stage at the age of 8, appearing as a picaninny kid with the Webster-Brown Stock Company. From then until 1913, he performed everything from acrobatic acts, to clown, to singer. His first real professional engagement was in 1904, singing illustrated songs for Sid Grauman at the Unique Theater in San Jose. He then worked in the Morosco Burbank Stock Company, and travelled through China and Japan with Ferris Hartman. His last stage appearance was with Hartman in Yokahama, Japan, in 1913.

After returning to California, Arbuckle went to work at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studio, for whom he appeared in hundreds of one- and two-reel comedies over the next three-and-a-half years, including: Fatty Again (1914), Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915), Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day (1915), Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at San Francisco (1915), and Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915) -- the "Mabel" in these movies was popular leading lady Mabel Normand. Arbuckle never used his weight (some 300 pounds) to get a laugh. In none of his movies was he shown getting stuck in a chair or doorway. He was remarkably agile for his size, and he used that agility to find humor in situations. In 1917, Arbuckle and Joseph M. Schenck (husband of Norma Talmadge) formed Comique Pictures. The films made by Comique were released through the Famous Players on a percentage basis. With this company Arbuckle had complete creative control over his productions.

He also met and hired a young comedian by the name of Buster Keaton, with whom he would star in "The Butcher Boy" (1917). By 1920 Arbuckle's comedy star was second only to Charlie Chaplin. With the success of Comique, Paramount Pictures asked Arbuckle to move to feature films. His first full-length feature film was The Roundup (1920). Other feature films done for Paramount included Brewster's Millions (1920) and Gasoline Gus (1921). Arbuckle's career came to a crashing halt in 1921, when he was arrested on manslaughter charges following the death of Virginia Rappe, a disreputable starlet who died a few days after a party thrown by Arbuckle. Newspapers, led by the Hearst group, turned Arbuckle's arrest and subsequent trials into Hollywood's first truly major scandal. Although eventually acquitted after three trials, Arbuckle's reputation had been seriously tarnished. Unable to return to the screen, Arbuckle found work as a comedy director for Buster Keaton and others under the pseudonym William Goodrich.

In 1932, Sam Sax hired him to appear in comic shorts for Warner Brothers; he went on to complete six shorts. Warner Brothers then signed him to a feature film contract, but he died in his sleep on June 29, 1933, the night after he signed the contract. Silent-film star arrested for murder - Sep 11, 1921 - HISTORY.com Silent-film star arrested for murder Share this: Silent-film star arrested for murder Author Silent-film star arrested for murder URL Publisher A+E Networks Fatty Arbuckle, a silent-film era performer at the height of his fame, is arrested in San Francisco for the rape and murder of aspiring actress Virginia Rappe. Arbuckle was later acquitted by a jury, but the scandal essentially put an end to his career. Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born on March 24, 1887, in Smith Center, Kansas. He worked as a vaudeville performer and starting in 1913, began appearing in Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops comedies. Arbuckle became known for his comedic pratfalls and pie-throwing.

In 1917, Arbuckle formed his own company and began writing and directing films, many of which starred his friend and fellow comedian Buster Keaton. In 1919, the heavy-set actor signed a $1 million per year deal with Paramount Pictures, an extraordinary sum for the time. In early September 1921, Arbuckle went to San Francisco with two male friends for a short vacation and checked into the St. Francis Hotel. The men hosted a party in their suite, during which a guest named Virginia Rappe, who had been drinking, became ill. Rappe, who was in her twenties, died several days later from peritonitis caused by a ruptured bladder. Maude Delmont, another guest at the party, claimed Arbuckle had raped Rappe and injured her bladder. Arbuckle’s arrest on September 11 by the San Francisco police soon generated a massive scandal. Arbuckle maintained his innocence, but he was lambasted in the press and the public, unused to Hollywood scandal, boycotted his films. The politically ambitious San Francisco district attorney was determined to prosecute Arbuckle, even though Delmont turned out to be a questionable witness, with a criminal record of her own.

Several other witnesses would later claim the prosecution had intimidated them into giving false testimony. After two mistrials, the jury in Arbuckle’s third trial found him not guilty and even issued him an apology. Despite this favorable outcome for Arbuckle, the U.S. film industry nevertheless temporarily banned him. He subsequently attempted a comeback and even directed several films under the pseudonym William B. Goodrich, but his career never fully recovered and he struggled with alcoholism. Arbuckle died of heart failure at age 46 on June 29, 1933, in New York City. Related Videos Fatty Arbuckle Scandal By Jennifer Rosenberg Updated August 24, 2016. At a raucous, three-day party in September 1921, a young starlet became severely ill and died four days later. Newspapers went wild with the story: popular silent-screen comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while savagely raping her. Though the newspapers of the day reveled in the gory, rumored details, juries found little evidence that Arbuckle was in any way connected with her death.

What happened at that party and why was the public so ready to believe "Fatty" was guilty? "Fatty" Arbuckle Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle had long been a performer. When he was a teenager, Arbuckle traveled the West Coast on the vaudeville circuit. In 1913, at the age of 26, Arbuckle hit the big time when he signed with Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company and became one of the Keystone Kops . Arbuckle was heavy - he weighed somewhere between 250 and 300 pounds - and that was part of his comedy. He moved gracefully, threw pies, and humorously tumbled. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World In 1921, Arbuckle signed a three-year contract with Paramount for $1 million - an unheard of amount at the time, even in Hollywood. To celebrate just having finished three pictures at the same time and to celebrate his new contract with Paramount, Arbuckle and a couple of friends drove up from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Saturday, September 3, 1921 for some Labor Day weekend revelry. The Party Arbuckle and friends checked into the St.

Francis Hotel in San Francisco. They were on the twelfth floor in a suite that contained rooms 1219, 1220, and 1221 (room 1220 was the sitting room). On Monday, September 5, the party started early. Arbuckle greeted visitors in his pajamas and though this was during Prohibition , large quantities of liquor was being drunk. Around 3 o'clock, Arbuckle retired from the party in order to get dressed to go sight-seeing with a friend. What happened in the following ten minutes is disputed. Delmont's version: "Bambina" Maude Delmont, who frequently set-up famous people in order to blackmail them, claims that Arbuckle herded 26-year-old Virginia Rappe into his bedroom and said, "I've waited for this a long time." Delmont says that a few minutes later party-goers could hear screams from Rappe coming from the bedroom. Delmont claims she tried to open the door, even kick it in, but couldn't get it open. When Arbuckle opened the door, supposedly Rappe was found naked and bleeding behind him.

Arbuckle's version: Arbuckle says that when he retired to his room to change clothes, he found Rappe vomiting in his bathroom. He then helped clean her up and led her to a nearby bed to rest. Thinking she was just overly intoxicated, he left her to rejoin the party. When he returned to the room just a few minutes later, he found Rappe on the floor. After putting her back on the bed, he left the room to get help. When others then entered the room, they found Rappe tearing at her clothes (something that has been claimed she did often when she was drunk). Party guests tried a number of strange treatments, including covering Rappe with ice, but she still wasn't getting any better. Eventually, the hotel staff was contacted and Rappe was taken to another room to rest. With others looking after Rappe, Arbuckle left for the sight-seeing tour and then drove back to Los Angeles. Rappe Dies Rappe was not taken to the hospital on that day. And though she didn't improve, she wasn't taken to the hospital for three days because most people who visited her considered her condition to be caused by liquor.

On Thursday, Rappe was taken to the Wakefield Sanitorium, a maternity hospital known for giving abortions. Virginia Rappe died the following day from peritonitis , caused by a ruptured bladder. Arbuckle was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Virginia Rappe. Yellow Journalism The papers went wild with the story. Some articles stated Arbuckle had crushed Rappe with his weight, while others said he had raped her with a foreign object (the papers went into graphic details). In the newspapers, Arbuckle was assumed guilty and Virginia Rappe was an innocent, young girl. The papers excluded reporting that Rappe had a history of numerous abortions, with some evidence stating she might have had another a short time before the party. William Randolph Hearst , the symbol of yellow journalism , had his San Francisco Examiner cover the story. According to Buster Keaton , Hearst boasted that Arbuckle's story sold more papers than the sinking of the Lusitania . The public reaction to Arbuckle was fierce. Perhaps even more than the specific charges of rape and murder, Arbuckle became a symbol of Hollywood's immorality. Movie houses across the country almost immediately stopped showing Arbuckle's movies.

The public was angry and they were using Arbuckle as a target. The Trials With the scandal as front page news on almost every newspaper, it was difficult to get an unbiased jury. The first Arbuckle trial began in November 1921 and charged Arbuckle with manslaughter. The trial was thorough and Arbuckle took the stand to share his side of the story. The jury was hung with a 10 to 2 vote for acquittal. Because the first trial ended with a hung jury, Arbuckle was tried again. In the second Arbuckle trial, the defense did not present a very thorough case and Arbuckle did not take the stand. The jury saw this as an admission of guilt and deadlocked in a 10 to 2 vote for conviction. In the third trial, which began in March 1922, the defense again became pro-active. Arbuckle testified, repeating his side of the story. The main prosecution witness, Zey Prevon, had escaped house arrest and left the country. For this trial, the jury deliberated for only a couple of minutes and came back with a verdict of not guilty.

Additionally, the jury wrote an apology to Arbuckle: Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was our only plain duty to give him this exoneration. There was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women who have sat listening for thirty-one days to the evidence that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame. "Fatty" Blacklisted Being acquitted was not the end to Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's problems. In response to the Arbuckle scandal, Hollywood established a self-policing organization that was to be known as the "Hays Office." On April 18, 1922, Will Hays , the president of this new organization, banned Arbuckle from film making.

Though Hays lifted the ban in December of the same year, Arbuckle's career had been destroyed. A Short Come-Back For years, Arbuckle had trouble finding work. He eventually began directing under the name William B. Goodrich (similar to the name his friend Buster Keaton suggested - Will B. Good). Though Arbuckle had begun a come-back and had signed with Warner Brothers in 1933 to act in some comedy shorts, he was never to see his popularity regained. After a small one-year anniversary party with his new wife on June 29, 1933, Arbuckle went to bed and suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep. He was 46. Roscoe Arbuckle - Wikidata Roscoe Arbuckle American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter Fatty Arbuckle Cite this page This page was last modified on 10 January 2017, at 18:17. All structured data from the main and property namespace is available under the Creative Commons CC0 License ; text in the other namespaces is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply.

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Question: What was silent film actor 'Fatty' Arbuckle's christian name?
Answer: ROSCOE